Accuracy of Memento

Like Barbara, Memento reminded me of what I am learning in my neuroscience class, Intro to Brain and Behavior. We are discussing temporal lobe amnesia, and how individuals with this amnesia cannot form new long term memories, which is exactly Leonard's problem. I learned that although they cannot form new memories, they can learn with practice, forming implicit memories. Although amnesia patients won't remember practicing a task, they will show improvement over time. When Leonard explains why he denied Sammy Jankins' insurance claim, it was because he did not exhibit learning with practice. The movie seems to accurately portray this problem. In class, we also talked about how an amnesia patient can keep notes to try and remember recent events. Although notes can help to a certain extent, I feel like the Polaroids Leonard uses are inefficient. I think they are too ambiguous to be that helpful, but they do concisely tell Leonard the basics of what he needs to know about his situation. In addition, Leonard could be so easily manipulated, and is manipulated, because of his memory problem. For example, Burt, the man who works at the motel where Leonard stays, charges Leonard for another room because he knew Leonard would think he just forgot he got another room. This makes him vulnerable, just like we are vulnerable to manipulation in a more general sense.